Into a void of ignorance about the country, liberals and conservatives project frightening or hopeful things.
“… Into this void of ignorance, people project frightening or hopeful things. This mismatch leads to funny outcomes. Cosmopolitan liberals want to use Western governments to pressure social networks to suppress “misinformation” — about politics, or the pandemic. Orbán’s emergency powers had just such a law against spreading disinformation. In his hands they viewed it as an attempt to destroy political opposition. And yet, while two arrests were made, nobody was charged under this law — quite unlike the speech laws in the U.K. and Germany, which do result in criminal cases. When cosmopolitan liberals talk about Hungary’s constitutional reforms and electoral process, they sound like Tucker Carlson on 2020. They say the election wasn’t “fair” because of problems of representation in various institutions, especially the media that nationalist conservatives have tried to dominate. Western liberals want to limit the influence of billionaires on domestic politics, but they want George Soros to have freer hands to take on Orbán from his home in Westchester.”
